MengChing, Kailin and I

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Hehehe, met them up on Wed @ Orchard. It was a great fellowship! But somehow we kept talking about guys though we tried to digress but in vain. Wahahahaha... It will always remain an interesting topic no matter how often it's been said lol...

Anyway, since it's private stuff I shall only write about my opinions. Hahaha. First and last entry about this. Lol...

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I remember once during Sec 3, I used to keep a diary. Now it's in front of me and it's weird reading back my thoughts 5 years ago cos it sounds kiddish. Lol. But it's still the familiar me... Though I'm now more matured, I noticed that my handwriting looks uglier. =)

Ok ok let's skip the intro. Lol..

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Somewhere between August and December 02, I wrote about the type of guys that I like... (Ya very free then) And out of the 9 points written, 4 really don't matter anymore. And those 4 are actually about the physique. Haha. Anyway, I think the most important thing to look out for in a guy is his degree of responsibility!!!! Is he responsible with his words (/promises), actions and money? And of cos whether he loves God a lot!

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Unfortunately, there're only a handful. So those are really special haha.

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And yup sadly that's about all that I have to say LOL...

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My diary is too distracting I have to read it! Never knew my life stories are so interesting (to me la) HAHA... Hmmm Maybe I can compile some and sell it and be the next up and rising Anne Frank!!!! -_- Haha. Oh dear does that mean I have to die first before selling???

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Ok ok I think it's good for me to go off now...

HoHoHo! Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!!!

It's by far the most fun Christmas for me! Lol. Hope that yours is great too!

Shall sum it up with a few pics... Lol...

Marilyn and I at Jurong West church. Lol... Great company!

An escalator of carolers!!!

At the Esplanade!!! SO wish I was part of them!!!!!!! It was an exuberant performance!

Rushed down at a last minute's notice to support him..........*Sigh* We had a reversal of role this year hahahaha.. And then we stayed back to watch the ACJC's choir performance with Elgin... We watched in awe! They were fantastic.

Trying to act cute with Dennis' act cute hat which gave me a fright at my door... Lol...

Overnight Mahjong session at my house on Christmas Eve LOL.... Everyone's addicted wahahaha. Yay.

Ser & Cai still looking great in the crazy hour of the night!

Me and my Dad at Expo service... Trying to stay/look awake with only 2 hours of sleep! Lol.

Me, Alice & Cai.. 3 of us!!!!! Girls I grew up with in secondary school... Of course not forgetting Bird!!! Whom I met in Primary 5. Awesome friendships!!! Cheers.

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Alright shall keep it short.... Enjoy your holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had a Christmas celebration at my house last night... It was much fun hosting the event together with the tremendous help from my friends! Really touched and grateful for all their effort~

Bird and Cai leading the games! Lol... "steamed turkey"!! LOL..

The winning team.. Lol..

This is really cute!!! Girls singing carols lol..

Dennis n Kailin~ Err Dennis... Trying hard I can see lol..

When the music fades, mahjong session began! And it lasted till 3.30am LOL I can't believe it. And Ravi actually learnt and played with us!! Superb~~ lol...

Lots of cleaning up to do! But it's ok haha hope that everyone enjoyed. Hehehe..

*It's all about You...*

Dear Meng Ching,

Thanks for that surprise call last night. If you did notice I sounded lackadaisical at first due to my stupidity earlier. It was really fun talking to you though I don't normally talk on the phone hehe... Thanks for teaching me about life and how to be a better person and for impacting my life in ways you may not know... Looking forward to Wednesday!

Love,
Aileen

Hmmm, recently there is a sudden influx of people complaining to me about arrogant people!!! Whose noses are so high they touch the sky... I always remember this quote: Don't let success go to your head or failure go to your heart.

It's such a simple yet impactful sentence... I always remind myself where I came from and how far God has brought me... And I will feel so touched knowing that I'm not fighting battles alone but with mighty God.

We are also where we are because along the way, people gave us second (or third or fourth...) chances to improve... Aren't we grateful for those? Instead of giving up on us because we are not good enough. So similarly, we must also give others time to grow and learn...

Actually I am talking to myself, so I should replace all the 'we's with 'I's hahaha.. But I think it sounds fine too with 'we's lol...

Really looking forward to orchestra potluck later!!!!!!!!! LOL...

Have a great day, smile! =)

Hehe, today must have been the best Monday ever. =) Though I couldn't sleep last night, I managed to wake up before the alarm went off at unbelievable 7.35am. And the miracle was that I still felt very much alive today hehehehe... Maybe I'm subconsciously happy and excited hahaha... For what I do not know... Maybe just a little bit of every thing?

Lol... Maybe it's the Christmas season? *Can you feel the love in the air?* Lol... But I guess I won't be doing much this year... Just wanna have a cosy merry little Christmas in a little quiet corner... And emo? Lol...

My dream has been crying out to me... Gosh... It's managed to get my full attention... I think about it every day and night... Whenever I'm alone... And wherever I go... It's been kicking on the inside of me wanting to come out and manifest itself! I simply can't ignore it. Though I may not know when it will come to past, but I know surely that I must continue to carry and guard this dream. Be it 10, 20, 30 years... I am willing!

Hmmm, sidetrack, hehe.. Hmmm... Is anyone free this Thursday? It's a public holiday... And hmmm... I was thinking of cleaning up my WHOLE house using the whole day... =) So does anyone wanna help me fulfil this desire? -_- I can make it fun! Lol... Only females la~ Haha. The more we get together the merrier we'll be! Lol..

Father: What time are you sleeping Aileen?
Me: Soon...
Father: I hope it's not soon... It's now.

Haha and now he's criticising on some of my 'brilliant' ideas and coming up with his own for this Friday's Christmas celebration... Ok ok he win~ hahaha. I admit his are better hahaha.

Have a lovely Christmas everyone. =)

Hmmm... I really don't know what's on my piano teacher's mind... She has actually completed teaching me 3 exam pieces in 4 or 5 weeks... And I have run through 2 songs with her already... While playing the 2nd piece for her today, she asked if I did practise... Of which I answered "Ya... But maybe not enough..." However, at the back of my mind, I know that I have practised my best this week... Making use of every available and appropriate time (which is not a lot) I have at home as much as I could to practise...

I seriously don't know if I'm slow or whether she has high expectation of me? And is this a common practice by piano teachers? Or is this the way to getting a Distinction? Does anybody know...

Perhaps I don't even need to get an answer to those... But rather to do my best in things I put my heart and mind into...

And the last thing I want is to have a phobia towards the Piano..

On a higher note, I'm really happy it's Friday already muahaha...

*Be still and know that He is God*

Wow wow... I'm so proud of MARILYN CHIA HUI LING (Xie Huiling)!!!!!!!!!!

Got the news today that she has passed the audition and is now a cellist in Singapore Youth Chinese Orchestra!!! Together with Elgin I suppose hahahaha. So I can foresee attending a lot of chinese orchestra concerts next year... Lol... Dong dong chiang!

All her hard work finally paid off!!! It's a damn happy piece of news and I'm so excited for her! Seriously. (As well as my dinner treat Lol) I think Music is very straight-forward and frank. Your standard of playing starkly shows the amount of hard work you put in... There's no shortcuts!!!

As an amatuer cellist still on my way, I'm really inspired. After hearing her side of story... I have a new motivation to spur me for piano and cello... Shan't say it here though. Like what Elgin said "What can't kill you makes you stronger." How true.

Though we may often hear a lot of voices telling us we can't do it, ultimately it's God's still small voice that I want to choose to listen to. Because His promises never fail and His words will still stand even when Heaven and Earth pass away.

Hi Friends,

The weather has been weird lately. Please take good care of your health and keep yourself warm.

Love,
Aileen

Words cannot describe how sian I am.

I feel that my my piano development is very much hampered. Shan't go into details... It drives me mad when I finally have a free night to practise but is disallowed/scolded. #(^!*#&!()#& It's like teasing a starving person with food he can't reach. It's total cruelty...

Have been waking up before the alarm clock went off these few days... That totally can't be me... But well, I guess it's due to a few things that have been weighing on my mind... Nothing serious though. Hehe, most of the time it's due to me pushing myself too much... Or having too high an expectation for myself...

Had a MORNING jog with Cai ytd and I discovered the shocking fact that my stamina has drastically deterioriated to a miserable state. Xiang dang nian..~ Sigh nvm. I must slowly regain my stamina. This won't do!!! Hardly ever exercise for the past 6 months after I tore a tendon in my left leg...

Anyway after the short jog, we sat and talked about some stuff... Though it was a quick one, but it was a quality time spent. Learnt quite a bit from her too. =) Thanks Cai, love.

Thanks Marilyn for your encouragement too. I was quite appalled at my own stupid random thought of even wanting to give up on the cello......... What happened to the fighter inside of me??? No matter how tough... I must still press on... Shake away negative thoughts and take things a little step by a little step... Gotta master the art of SLOW PRACTICE. Hmm...

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As for piano... Thankfully I'm on par... My teacher made me do a piano exam marathon... She managed to complete teaching 2 songs in 3 weeks... and is starting on the 3rd one next week... Then I'll probably be done with all the pieces by the end of the year and starting on scales and aural next yr... It's quite fun though...

I think my father is very knowledgeable about the world... About what is going on and how to deal with people.... Which make me look naive in juxtaposition. Hmm... I must be more discerning. So gotta hang around more with our parents...

Everybody loves hamsters! Lol. Received a sms from my tuition kid "Aileen are u coming to fetch the hamster tommorrow? pls reply asap" LOL... So cute la! Lol... So now it's at the balcony.. Running spastically on the wheel every night and waking up later than me every morning. LOL..

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Ok just some random updates... Have a great week ahead, Be optimistic and smile at life!

Sometimes I lie on my bed at night thinking that I'm so weak and finding comfort in the knowledge that God is strong. I will feel so touched knowing that God is with me all the time... That's why I'm still very much in love with the song "You Are My All In All" which sings of how much we need God in our lives.

I was just telling Marilyn that life is so fragile and unpredictable... And it's always nearly the case when a family comes closer only after a tragedy. Why can't we be close even when everything is seemingly going right and not take each other's presence for granted...?

In a recent night, I watched a HK drama on TV when somehow a sentence in the subtitle struck me. "Give in and be more understanding." Think about sibling rivalry and rebellion towards our parents... A lot of times I have regretted my actions and the words I said and I have made a decision to just pause and not let emotions cloud my thinking.

Gotta take everything in stride. Though my brother still yells at me for playing the piano/cello sometimes, I admit I get angry/frustrated. However, recently I find myself giving in and stop playing (though reluctantly). I think as a big sis I gotta show him first that I respect his wish and hope that one day he will stop yelling at me when he knows that I do take his wish into consideration too.

Anyway, the point I'm driving at is to not be self-centered but to put ourselves in another person's shoes to understand the situation prior to the next action. At least that's what I'm telling myself to do now...

I can't stop staring at this picture... It's amazing how we become united as one. Simply amazing. Just ytd I told Marilyn that I took part in CO SYF in 2003 and she brought to my attention that 4 of us were actually competitors who took part in CO SYF that same year... And 4 years later, 4 of us come together and play as one in CHPO.. Even becoming good friends. Hehehe. Amazing. May we play together till we grow old! Lol... Must really treasure this friendship that we share.

It's really really important to have strong relationships in the orchestra... Not only can we flow together but we can also encourage and strengthen each other... And many many conflicts/politics can be avoided this way. It'll be meaningless to gather every week to play a few notes and then go our separate ways... Not even knowing the person you always sit next to...

Anyway, today is really an emo day for me... Partly due to the rainy weather at night which enhanced it.. And largely due to work... Brought this emo feeling to the rehearsal and wasn't really enthu about playing... It was so 'unprofessional' to let emotions (sian + stone) took over me while engaging in something else... Sigh~ Only me and Elgin turned up and I was so thankful he went... Phew~ He didn't bring his cello though so we took turns to play... And I realized my cello sound is/was horrible... Sigh~Plus my bow is balding... So I can foresee splashing more money on these... $~..

With all my half-hearted (nua) playing today.. I was actually surprised TatHaur came up to me and said that I "have improved by leaps and bounds"... Quite happy to hear that though I think he was too generous with his words... All thanks to Elgin who has helped me a lot tonight. As well as Lisa and Marilyn who have taught and guided me little by little every week. I always take mental notes of their little comments "here and there"... Though it can be quite stressful sometimes... But I know it's good for me at the end of the day... And not forgetting my cello teacher who is ever so patient with me...















Wonder if it's big enough to read... If I'm not wrong, you can click on it to enlarge. It's quite a good piece of news (Before friday), worthy of your one click...

Wahhh really siannnnnnn......................... Haven't felt like that for a long time....
SIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SIGH.....
SIAN.....

Going off to fight a big battle now. Gotta renew my mind!!!!!

I have never done this... But well Marilyn this is for u hahaha.

Three Things You Want To Do Before You Die:
1) Perform a piano concerto/piano solo
2) Travel the world
3) Give birth? Lol...

Three Names You Go By:
1) Alien
2) Squid
3) Eh...
(A lot others which you can see at the top right..)

Three Screen Names You Have Had:
1) Freakio (neopet's name lol...)
2) Faryio
3) leeN

Three Physical Things You Like About Yourself:
Too shy to say lol...

Three Parts Of Your Heritage:
1) Teochew
2) Hokkien
3) Child of God? =)

Three Things That Scare You:
1) Flying insects
2) Authentic nerds
3) Unusual sounds at night...

Three Of Your Everyday Essentials:
1) Music
2) Money
3) Handphone

Three Of Your Favorite Bands/Musical Artists:
1) Micheal Buble
2) Corrinne May
3) Norah Jones

Three Of Your Favorite Songs: *currently*
1) You are my all in all
2) Piano exam pieces (By default)
3) Mozart - Divertimento (By default also Lol...)

Three Things You Want In A Relationship:
For me to know and for my bf to find out Lol..

Three Physical Things About The Preferred Sex That Appeal To You:
1) Goatee??
2) Genuine smile... Not pervertic type hahaha
3) Hmmm.. Nothing in particular actually..

Three Of Your Favorite Hobbies:
1) Playing music
2) Reading
3) Sports

Three Things You Want To Do Really Badly Right Now:
1) Play the piano
2) Watch a movie
3) Get out of this island

(This is really getting long... lol...)

Three Careers You're Considering/You've Considered:
*Childhood*
1) Zookeeper (Bird don't laugh!!!)
2) Pianist (Still! On my way!!!)
3) Doctor *Grin* (You guys should rejoice I wasn't serious about that haha but I still love Biology though)
Maybe a writer/journalist?

Phew. Ok I really shall stop here... Lol...

Ytd was the best Saturday ever. I spent the entire day practising my piano exam pieces and I finally complete 1 & 1/3 songs hahaha. Ultra satisfaction. And I really still can't get enough of piano... lol... So wanna play it now... If only I live alone.. hehehe..

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Anyway my current favourite song is "You are my all in all"... Can't get enough of it too!!!! Been singing/humming it wherever I go and been playing on the piano also... It's a song I first heard and fell in love with a decade ago, and still loving it a decade later... It must have been written by some angel...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlGFP51Ve7E&feature=related (You are my all in all)

It brought tears to my eyes when I saw this video... Take note of the audience. God loves us no matter who we are... The blind, deaf,mute,lame... God loves all of us. Nothing complicated... Really. This simple fact never fails to touch my heart... Cos sometimes I do bad things that must have broken God's heart... Yet He's always by my side...

Went to watch the T'ang Quartet performance with Marilyn.. Another irony: Throughout the entire perf, the thing I liked most was the 5 seconds of silence and stillness at the end of a song. No sound... No movement... Time stood still. I didn't breathe either. Haha. Amazing 5 seconds. I also like the encore piece most among all the other pieces hahaha. Strange me...